5 Creative Ways to Build an Attractive Lodging Package
With guest expectations on the rise and the desire for an experience vs. just a vacation, it’s now more important than ever to offer unique and distinguishable lodging packages. The old gimmicks no longer work for today’s travel-savvy generation. Guess what, they expect more.
Read here for a few creative ways on how to build an attractive lodging package that travelers won’t say no to!
Ready-made package itinerary
Take the guesswork out of planning a girl’s weekend getaway or family vacation by offering travelers a package that includes an already-planned travel itinerary. A family vacation package could include tickets to the zoo, local amusement park, and vouchers to the ice-cream shop down the road. Or a romantic weekend getaway package might include a bottle of wine, a discount at a romantic restaurant in town, and a dozen red roses. For example, Experiences by Marriott behaves as a concierge service for future guests by offering a buffet of personalized experiences to take part in during their vacation.
Exclusive packages
What traveler wouldn’t want a unique experience? Offer customers a one-of-a-kind experience by partnering with a local business to provide exclusive events they can only experience when staying at your hotel. For example, maybe there is a local museum that might offer VIP tickets to their current exhibit, or a local event only guests at your hotel could gain early access to.
Celebrate the not so obvious holidays
Popular holidays like Christmas and New Year’s often see a lot of competition in terms of hotel packages. So why not offer holiday packages around less obvious holidays such as St. Patrick’s Day, Veteran’s Day or non-designated holidays like National Chocolate Day. Create a unique package centered around that holiday and your area.
Free upgrades
While this is a bit more like a promotion, free upgrades can be an effective marketing tool to incentivize customers to stay with you longer or book with you again. Maybe there is an automatic upgrade to a suite if they book three or more nights or book again with you in the future. The possibilities are endless and depend on what you feel comfortable offering. Customers will remember feeling “rewarded” by staying at your property.
Free Add-ons
Create packages that offer a minimum two-night stay plus a free bottle of wine or a $20 gift card to your property. Offer one of your up-sells as part of a package, this keeps them coming back, showcases other aspects of your business, and makes your customer feel like they got a little something extra for staying with you.
Lodging packages are just one of many non-pricing methods to increase your profits that we at RezStream discuss with our clients. Learn more on how you can implement package types and market them to travelers by emailing us at marketing@rezstream.com.